WWII veteran died en route to D-Day commemorations

A World War II veteran died last week after suffering a medical emergency en route to commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Allies' D-Day invasion of Europe, a veterans organization said.

Robert Persichitti, 102, flew overseas along with his guardian and was sailing on a ship down the coast to France when the emergency occurred, the Hero Flight organization said in a Facebook post, without specifying the nature of the emergency.

He was airlifted to Germany but died shortly thereafter on May 31, according to the post, which cited veterans who were traveling with him.

Persichitti was named to the New York State Senate's Veterans Hall of Fame in 2020, which includes a biography that said he served in the Navy during WWII as a radioman aboard the command ship USS Eldorado.

"His tour of duty included the Pacific Theater, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam," the biography said.

Some 180 veterans in their late 90s or even over 100 attended the D-Day commemorations in Normandy on Thursday, marking the anniversary of the invasion that broke through German coastal defenses in a key victory for Allied forces.